Method for scheduling orthogonally over multiple hops

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, method, and computer-program product are provided for wireless communication between uplink and downlink nodes via a relay. The relay is configured to simultaneously communicate with the uplink and downlink nodes on a common channel. For simultaneous communication, radio resources may be allocated to the relay to maintain orthogonality on both the uplink and downlink.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, andmore specifically but not exclusively to various techniques forscheduling orthogonally over multiple hops in a wireless network.

2. Background

Wireless networks are widely deployed to provide various services toconsumers, such as telephony, data, video, audio, messaging, broadcasts,etc. Wireless networks enable broadband communications over a regional,nationwide, or even global region. Such networks are sometimes referredas Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWANs). One common example of a WWAN isa cellular network that supports CDMA2000, a telecommunications standardthat uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) to send voice, data, andsignaling between mobile subscribers. Another example of a WWAN is acellular network that provides broadband Internet access to mobilesubscribers, such as Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), both of which are part of the CDMA2000 family of airinterface standards. These cellular networks generally provide coverageover multiple cellular regions, with a fixed-site base station locatedin each cell to serve mobile subscribers.

Smaller wireless networks known as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)have been standardized, for example by the IEEE 802.11 committee. WLANsare deployed to cover small areas with a geographic coverage rangingfrom a few tens of meters to a few hundred meters. A WLAN usesunlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network, typically coveringonly the network operator's own property. By way of example, many coffeeshops, hotels, and transportation hubs contain WLAN access points to theInternet.

Currently, ad-hoc wireless networks are being deployed to provide longrange wireless communications for voice, data, audio, video, messaging,and multimedia (i.e., content). An ad-hoc wireless network is formed bya number of wireless nodes that join together to provide backhaulservices to other wireless nodes. In an ad-hoc wireless network, contentis routed from one wireless node to another until the content reachesits destination. A continuous connection is a provided to thedestination through one or more intermediate nodes, which may bedynamically reconfigured to maintain a connection when one or morewireless nodes in the ad-hoc network becomes unavailable.

Ad-hoc wireless networks provide a unique opportunity to expand thewireless coverage currently offered by existing infrastructures. By wayof example, an ad-hoc wireless network may be used to expand thegeographic reach of a cellular network or a WLAN. An ad-hoc wirelessnetwork also provides an attractive alternative to cable and DigitalSubscriber Lines (DSLs) for broadband access.

With the recent advent of ad-hoc wireless networks and the vastpotential for improving wireless communications, more efficient ways areneeded to support the transmission of content through these networks.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of communications includesproviding a relay between uplink and downlink nodes, and simultaneouslycommunicating with the uplink and downlink nodes on a common channel.

In another aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes a mediaaccess controller configured to provide a relay between uplink anddownlink nodes, and wherein the media access controller is furtherconfigured to simultaneously communicate with the uplink and downlinknodes on a common channel.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus includes means forproviding a relay between uplink and downlink nodes, and means forsimultaneously communicating with the uplink and downlink nodes on acommon channel.

In yet a further aspect of the disclosure, a computer-program productfor wireless communications includes a machine-readable mediumcomprising instructions executable by one or more processors in awireless node to provide a relay between uplink and downlink nodes, andsimultaneously communicating with the uplink and downlink on a commonchannel.

In another aspect of the disclosure, an access point includes a networkadapter configured to support a wired backhaul connection to a network,and a media access controller configured to provide a relay betweenwireless uplink and downlink nodes through the network adapter, andwherein the media access controller is further configured tosimultaneously communicate with the uplink and downlink nodes on acommon channel.

In yet another aspect of the disclosure, a relay point includes awireless network adapter, and a media access controller configured toprovide a relay between wireless uplink and downlink nodes through thewireless network adapter, and wherein the media access controller isfurther configured to simultaneously communicate with the uplink anddownlink nodes on a common channel.

In still yet another aspect of the disclosure, an access terminalincludes a wireless network adapter, a media access controllerconfigured to provide a relay between wireless uplink and downlink nodesthrough the wireless network adapter, and wherein the media accesscontroller is further configured to simultaneously communicate with theuplink and downlink nodes on a common channel, and a user interfaceconfigured to control content to and from the wireless network adapter.

It is understood that other aspects of the invention will become readilyapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, wherein various aspects of the invention are shown anddescribed by way of illustration. As will be realized, the invention iscapable of other and different configurations and implementations andits several details are capable of modification in various otherrespects, all without departing from the scope of this disclosure.Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a wirelessnetwork;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of contentflow associated with transmit and receive timeslots in a single hopcommunication;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of callflows associated with the timing relationship between a transmitting andreceiving node in a single hop communication;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of contentflow associated with transmit and receive timeslots in a multiple hopcommunication;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of callflows associated with the timing relationship between two wireless nodesengaged in a multiple hop communication through an intermediate wirelessnode;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functionalityof a wireless node; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functionalityof a media access controller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations of theinvention and is not intended to represent the only configurations inwhich the invention may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that the invention may be practiced without these specific details.In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a wirelessnetwork 100. The wireless network 100 is shown with several wirelessnodes, generally designated as wireless nodes 102 and access terminals104. A wireless node may receive, transmit, or both. In the discussionthat follows, the term “receiving node” may be used to refer to awireless node that is receiving and the term “transmitting node” may beused to refer to a wireless node that is transmitting. Thesedesignations do not imply that the wireless node is incapable ofperforming both transmit and receive functions.

A wireless node may function as an access point, a relay point, anaccess terminal, or any combination thereof. In the example of awireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1, a cluster of the wireless nodes102 function together to provide backhaul services to a number of accessterminals 104. The cluster includes a wireless node 102A that functionsas an access point by providing a backhaul connection to a network 100(e.g., a WWAN such as a cellular network, a WLAN, an ISP, the Internet,etc.). This wireless node 102A, however, may function as a relay pointfor other access points not shown in FIG. 1, or provide a relay functionin response to a dynamic reconfiguration of the wireless network 100.The cluster also includes two wireless nodes 102B1 and 102B2 thatfunction as relay points to connect the access terminals 104 to theaccess point 102A. Although not shown, these wireless nodes 102B1 and102B2 may also provide connectivity to other access points and relaypoints. The same wireless nodes 102B1 and 102B2 may function as accesspoints for other clusters of wireless nodes in the network 100.

Four access terminals 104 are shown in FIG. 1. In this example, twoaccess terminals 1041 and 1042 are connected to the access point 102Athrough the relay point 102B1, one access point 1043 is connected to theaccess point 102A through the relay point 102B2, and the remainingaccess point 1044 is connected directly to the access point 102A. Anaccess terminal 104 may be any mobile user device capable of supportingradio communications with a wireless node 102 including, by way ofexample, a mobile or cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA),a laptop computer, a digital audio device (e.g., an MP3 player), a gameconsole, a digital camera, or other voice, data, audio, video,messaging, or multimedia device. In some applications, the accessterminal 104 may also function as an access point and/or relay point forother wireless nodes in the network 100.

The air interface specification used or adopted to support the wirelessnetwork 100 can be based on any suitable multiple access technology thatenables mobile subscribers to share the available radio resources.Examples of such multiple access technologies include Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), CDMA,Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access(OFDMA), or some combination thereof.

An example will now be presented for a wireless network 100 that uses aTDMA air interface protocol on a common channel to transmit and receivefrom upstream and downstream nodes. A “channel” refers to a frequencyband within the radio spectrum that has been allocated to a wirelessnode. FIGS. 2A and 2B are conceptual diagrams showing content flowsassociated with transmit and receive timeslots in a single hopcommunication. Referring to FIG. 2A, content is transmitted from awireless node A to a wireless node B. The wireless nodes A and B areallowed to transmit and receive during certain timeslots. By way ofexample, referring to FIG. 2B, the wireless node A may transmit duringodd numbered timeslots and the wireless node B may transmit during evennumbered timeslots. Conversely, the wireless node A may receive duringeven numbered timeslots and the wireless node B may receive during oddnumbered timeslots.

In some implementations, multiple sub-channels may be established ineach timeslot. By way of example, in a hybrid TDMA/FDMA scheme, thefrequency band allocated to a wireless node may be divided up into anumber of sub-bands and used within each timeslot to supportsimultaneous communications with multiple wireless nodes. In anotherexample, several spreading codes may be used in a hybrid TDMA/CDMAscheme, thus enabling simultaneous communications during a singletimeslot with the content for each communication being spread with adifferent code. Those skilled in the art will readily understand how tobest divide up the radio resources of a channel using various multipleaccess technologies suitable for any particular application.

Returning to FIG. 1, each wireless node may have multiple downlinkconnections. In this configuration, each wireless node with multipledownlink connections may need to coordinate the sharing of radioresources between the downstream wireless nodes (e.g., frequencysub-band assignments, spreading codes, etc.). By way of example, theaccess point 102A allocates available radio resources between the accessterminal 1044 and the two relay points 102B1 and 102B2, and the relaypoint 102B1 allocates available radio resources between the two accessterminals 1041 and 1042. In this example, the access point 102A and therelay point 102B1 may employ a scheduling algorithm to allocate radioresources. The scheduling algorithm may be as simple as a first-comefirst-serve process. Alternatively, the scheduling algorithm may be usedto take advantage of favorable radio conditions. A simpler best effortscheduling algorithm may be used based on a fairness, whereby thewireless node for each downlink connection is given equal bandwidth, orin the case where there are a large number of wireless nodes with adownlink connection, a round-robin process in which the bandwidth iscycled between the wireless nodes in a fair way. Those skilled in theart will be readily able to determine an appropriate schedulingalgorithm for any particular application of a wireless network.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are call flow diagrams illustrating an example of thetiming relationship between a transmitting and receiving node in asingle hop communication. Referring to FIG. 3A, the transmitting node isthe access point 102A in FIG. 1 and the receiving node is the accessterminal 1044 in FIG. 1. A request/grant scheme is used to coordinatecommunications between the access point 102A and the access terminal1044. By way of example, when the access point 102A wishes to transmitto the access terminal 1044 on the downlink, the access point 102Atransmits a request during one of its transmit time slots (e.g.,timeslot 1). The request includes a specified allocation of radioresources that the access point 102A intends to transmit on (e.g.,frequency sub-bands, spreading codes, etc.).

The access terminal 1044 receives the request during its correspondingreceive timeslot. In response to the request, the access terminal 1044may transmit a grant to the access point 102A during one of its transmittimeslots (e.g., timeslot 2). Here, the access terminal 1044 may grantthe request for all or a portion of the radio resources requested. Byway of example, the access terminal 1044 may grant the request totransmit only on the requested frequency sub-bands that have recentlyexhibited a relatively low level of interference.

The grant may also include additional information such as the channelquality for packet format and data rate selection by the access point102A. The channel quality information may comprise a channel qualityindicator (CQI). A CQI may be computed by making use of a performancemetric, such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interferenceplus noise ration (SINR), and so forth.

After receiving the grant during its corresponding receive timeslot, theaccess point 102A transmits the content to the access terminal 1044during one of its transmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot 3). The accessterminal 1044 will thus receive the content during its correspondingreceive timeslot.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the transmitting node is the access terminal 1044in FIG. 1 and the receiving node is the access point 102A in FIG. 1.When the access terminal 1044 wishes to transmit to the access point102A on the uplink, the access terminal 1044 transmits a request duringone of its transmit time slots (e.g., timeslot 2). The request mayinclude the buffer status (i.e., the quantity of content to betransmitted) and the quality of service (QoS) requirements.

The access point 102A receives the request during its correspondingreceive timeslot. In response to the request, the access point 102A maytransmit a grant to the access point 102A during one of its transmittimeslots (e.g., timeslot 3). The grant includes a specified allocationof radio resources for the access terminal 1044 to use to transmit. Thegrant may also include additional information such as packet format anddata rate for the transmission.

After receiving the grant during its corresponding receive timeslot, theaccess terminal 1044 transmits the content to the access point 102Aduring one of its transmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot 4). The accesspoint 102A will thus receive the content during its correspondingreceive timeslot.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are conceptual diagrams illustrating content flowassociated with transmit and receive timeslots in a multiple hopcommunication. Referring to FIG. 4A, content is transmitted from awireless node A to a wireless node B and then to a wireless node C. Asexplained earlier in connection with a single hop communication, thewireless nodes are allowed to transmit and receive during certaintimeslots. By way of example, referring to FIG. 4B, the wireless nodes Aand C may transmit during odd numbered timeslots and the wireless node Bmay transmit during even numbered timeslots. Conversely, the wirelessnodes A and C may receive during even numbered timeslots and thewireless node B may receive during odd numbered timeslots.

An example will now be presented with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.FIGS. 5A and 5B are call flow diagrams illustrating an example of thetiming relationship between two wireless nodes engaged in a multiple hopcommunication through an intermediate wireless node. In this example,the access point 102A is in communication with the access terminal 1041through the relay point 102B1 (see FIG. 1). To increase throughput andefficiently utilize the available bandwidth, the relay point 1021 may beconfigured to communicate simultaneously with the access point 102A andthe access terminal 1041. In order to communicate simultaneously, theradio resources must be allocated to the relay point 1021 in way thatmaintains orthogonality on both the uplink and downlink. The problem isthat the relay point 102B1 allocates radio resources to the accessterminal 1041 in the downlink transmit request in timeslot 1, but has noway to ensure that the access point 102A does not allocate overlappingradio resources to it in timeslot 2. This problem may be solved bymodifying the uplink transmit request to include a set of radioresources that are not being used by the relay point 102B1 on thedownlink transmission.

Referring to FIG. 5A, when the relay point 102B1 wishes tosimultaneously transmit to the access terminal 1041 on the downlink andthe access point 102A on the uplink, its sends a request to each duringone of its transmit time slots (e.g., timeslot 1). The requests may besent on separate control channels. The request to the access terminal1041 includes a specified allocation of radio resources that the relaypoint 102B1 intends to transmit on (e.g., frequency sub-bands, spreadingcodes, etc.). The request to the access point 102A includes the bufferstatus, the QoS requirements, and a specified allocation of radioresources that the relay point 102B1 would like to transmit on. Thespecified allocation of radio resources are selected by the relay point102B1 from those that have not been allocated for the downlinktransmission to the access terminal 1041.

In some implementations, the specified allocation of radio resourcesselected by the relay point 102B1 is from a set of radio resourcesidentified by the access point 102A in an earlier transmission. In theseimplementations, the access point 102A may divide the radio resourcesinto multiple sets, one set for each downstream connection. Eachdownstream wireless node that is providing a relay function may selectan allocation of radio resources from its set to specify in an uplinktransmission request to the access point 102A.

The access terminal 1041 receives the downlink transmission request fromthe relay point 102B1 during its corresponding receive timeslot (e.g.,timeslot 1). In response to the request, the access terminal 1041 maytransmit a grant to the relay point 102B1 during one of its transmittimeslots (e.g., timeslot 2) on a control channel between the two. Here,the access terminal 1041 may grant the request for all or a portion ofthe radio resources requested. The grant may also include additionalinformation such as the channel quality for packet format and data rateselection by the relay point 102B1.

The access point 102A receives the uplink transmission request duringits corresponding receive timeslot (e.g., timeslot 1). In response tothe request, the access point 102A designates at least a portion of thespecified allocation of radio resources in the request for the uplinktransmission. The designated portion of the specified allocation ofradio resources may be based a variety of factors. By way of example,the relay point 102B1 may designate all or a portion of the radioresources specified by the access terminal 1041 based on the QoSrequirements for the access terminal 1041 and/or the current loading onthe relay point 102B1. The access point 102A transmits a grant to therelay point 102B1 during one of its transmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot2) on a control channel that confirms the allocation of radio resourcesspecified by the relay point 102B1 or identifies the designated portionof the specified radio resources. The grant may also include additionalinformation such as packet format and data rate for the transmission.

After receiving the grant from both the access terminal 1041 and theaccess point 102A during its corresponding receive timeslot (e.g.,timeslot 2), the relay point 102B1 simultaneously transmits content tothe access terminal 1041 and the access point 102A during one of itstransmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot 3). The access terminal 1041 and theaccess point 102A will thus receive the content during their respectivecorresponding receive timeslots (e.g., timeslot 3).

Referring to FIG. 5B, when the access point 102A wishes to transmit tothe relay point 102B1 on the downlink, the access point 102A transmits arequest during one of its transmit time slots (e.g., timeslot 1). Therequest includes a specified allocation of radio resources that theaccess point 102A intends to transmit on.

When the access terminal 1041 wishes to transmit to the relay point102B1 on the uplink, the access terminal 1041 transmits a request duringone of its transmit time slots (e.g., timeslot 1). The request includesthe buffer status and the quality of service (QoS) requirements.

The relay point 102B1 receives both requests during its correspondingreceive timeslot (e.g., timeslot 1). In response to the downlinktransmission request from the access point 102A, the relay point 102B1may transmit a grant to the access point 102A during one of its transmittimeslots (e.g., timeslot 2). Here, the relay point 102B1 may grant therequest for all or a portion of the radio resources requested. The grantmay also include additional information such as the channel quality forpacket format and data rate selection by the access point 102A.

In response to the uplink transmission request from the access terminal1041, the relay point 102B1 may transmit a grant to the access terminal1041 during one of its transmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot 2). The grantincludes a specified allocation of radio resources for the accessterminal 1041 to use to transmit. The specified allocation of radioresources for the access terminal 1041 should be different than thoseallocated to it by the access point 102A one timeslot earlier. The grantmay also include additional information such as packet format and datarate for the transmission.

After receiving both grants during its corresponding receive timeslot(e.g., timeslot 2), the relay point 102B1 the access point 102A and theaccess terminal 1041 simultaneously transmit content to the relay point1041 during one of their respective transmit timeslots (e.g., timeslot3). The relay point 102B will thus receive the content during itscorresponding receive timeslot (e.g., timeslot 3).

Although the various concepts just presented were described in thecontext of a relay point supporting a multiple hop communication betweentwo wireless nodes, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat these concepts may be extended to a relay point that supports asimultaneous uplink and downlink transmissions to two wireless nodesthat are not communicating with one another. Returning to FIG. 1 for anexample, the relay point 102B1 may transmit content from the accessterminal 1041 to the access point 102A, while simultaneouslytransmitting content from the access point 102A to another accessterminal 1042.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functionalityof a wireless node. The following descriptive is informative in natureand broadly defines the functionality of each block. Only the pertinentfunctionality to various concepts described throughout this disclosurewill be described. Those skilled in the art will recognize that thesefunctional blocks can provide other functionality that is not describedherein. In this example, the wireless node 102 includes two functionalblocks: a network adapter 602 and a media access controller 604.

In a wireless node that serves as a relay point, the network adapter 602supports a wireless connection to both uplink and downlink nodes. Whenthe relay point functionality is provided by an access terminal, thenetwork adapter 602 similarly supports a wireless connection to bothuplink and downlink nodes, in addition to a wireless connection to anuplink node for content controlled by a user interface 603. The networkadapter 602 may be slightly different to support a relay point functionin an access point. In addition to providing a wireless connection toboth uplink and downlink nodes to provide the relay point function, thenetwork adapter 602 in the access point also supports a wired backhaulconnection to the network.

The network adapter 602 provides both a receiver function andtransmitter function is provided. The receiver function includesdemodulating a wireless signal and retrieving content carried by thesignal. The transmitting function includes modulating a carrier withcontent. The wireless network 602 provides various functions such as RFfront-end processing, ADC, timing and frequency estimation, channelestimation, turbo coding etc. In summary, the wireless network adapter602 provides the complete physical layer implementation of the wirelessnode 202.

The media access controller 604 is used to control access to thewireless medium. It uses a scheduling algorithm to accommodate thecurrent functionality of the wireless node (e.g., access point, relaypoint, access terminal). The media access controller 604 is responsiblefor scheduling communications between other wireless nodes using therequest/grant scheme discussed earlier.

The media access controller 604 may be configured to enable the wirelessnode to provide a relay point function with the capability to supportsimultaneous uplink and downlink communications. In the transmit mode,the media access controller 604 implements this relay point function bysending an uplink and downlink transmit request, with each requesthaving a specified allocation of radio resources. The media accesscontroller 604 then schedules the uplink and downlink transmissions whenit receives a grant in response to the requests. The grant from theupstream wireless node identifies either all or a portion of thespecified radio resources for the uplink transmission. In someimplementations, the specified allocation of radio resources included inthe uplink transmission request is selected from a set of radioresources provided to it in an earlier transmission from the upstreamwireless node.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functionalityof a media access controller when providing a relay function. The mediaaccess controller includes a module 702 for providing a relay betweenuplink and downlink nodes, and a module 704 for simultaneouslycommunicating with the uplink and downlink nodes on a common channel.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implementedwithin or performed by an integrated circuit (“IC”), an access terminal,an access point or relay point. The IC may comprise a general purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, electrical components, optical components,mechanical components, or any combination thereof designed to performthe functions described herein, and may execute codes or instructionsthat reside within the IC, outside of the IC, or both. A general purposeprocessor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processormay be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or statemachine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunctionwith a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The code or instructions may be embodied in one or more machine-readablemedia to support software applications. Software shall be construedbroadly to mean instructions, programs, code, or any other electronicmedia content whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Machine-readablemedia may include storage integrated with a processor, such as might bethe case with an ASIC. Machine-readable media may also include storageexternal to a processor, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flashmemory, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory(PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removabledisk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or any other suitable storage device. Inaddition, machine-readable media may include a transmission line or acarrier wave that encodes a data signal. Those skilled in the art willrecognize how best to implement the described functionality for theprocessing system. Moreover, in some aspects any suitablecomputer-program product may comprise a computer-readable medium ormachine-readable medium comprising codes relating to one or more of theaspects of the disclosure. In some aspects a computer program productmay comprise packaging materials.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, theelement is recited using the phrase “step for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communications, comprising:providing a relay between wireless uplink and downlink nodes;simultaneously communicating with the uplink and downlink nodes via therelay using different spreading codes on a common channel, wherein thecommunication with the uplink and downlink nodes comprisessimultaneously transmitting to the uplink and downlink nodes on thecommon channel; and sending a request to the uplink node specifying afirst allocation of radio resources from the common channel to transmitand sending a request to the downlink node specifying a secondallocation of radio resources from the common channel to transmit, saidsecond allocation of resources being different from the first allocationof radio resources.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the communicationwith the uplink and downlink nodes further comprises simultaneouslyreceiving from the uplink and downlink nodes on the common channel. 3.The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving from the uplink nodea grant to transmit using the first allocation of radio resources. 4.The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving from the uplink nodea grant to transmit using only a portion of the first allocation ofresources.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the first and secondallocations of radio resources comprises a frequency assignment from thecommon channel.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the first andsecond allocations of radio resources comprises a spreading codeassignment from the common channel.
 7. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: a media access controller configured toprovide a relay between wireless uplink and downlink nodes, wherein themedia access controller is further configured to simultaneouslycommunicate with the uplink and downlink nodes using different spreadingcodes on a common channel, wherein the media access controller isfurther configured to communicate with the uplink and downlink nodes bysimultaneously transmitting to the uplink and downlink nodes on thecommon channel, and wherein the media access controller is furtherconfigured to send a request to the uplink node specifying a firstallocation of radio resources from the common channel to transmit andsend a request to the downlink node specifying a second allocation ofradio resources from the common channel to transmit, the secondallocation of resources being different from the first allocation ofradio resources.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the media accesscontroller is further configured to communicate with the uplink anddownlink nodes by simultaneously receiving from the uplink and downlinknodes on the common channel.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein themedia access controller is further configured to receive from the uplinknode a grant to transmit using the first allocation of radio resources.10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the media access controller isfurther configured to receive from the uplink node a grant to transmitusing only a portion of the first allocation of resources.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein each of the first and second allocations ofradio resources comprises a frequency assignment from the commonchannel.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein each of the first andsecond allocations of radio resources comprises a spreading codeassignment from the common channel.
 13. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: means for providing a relay between wirelessuplink and downlink nodes; means for simultaneously communicating withthe uplink and downlink nodes via the relay using different spreadingcodes on a common channel, wherein the means for simultaneouslycommunicating with the uplink and downlink nodes comprises means forsimultaneously transmitting to the uplink and downlink nodes on thecommon channel; and wherein the apparatus further comprises means forsending a request to the uplink node specifying a first allocation ofradio resources from the common channel to transmit and means forsending a request to the downlink node specifying a second allocation ofradio resources from the common channel, the second allocation ofresources being different from the first allocation of radio resources.14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the means for simultaneouslycommunicating with the uplink and downlink nodes further comprises meansfor simultaneously receiving from the uplink and downlink nodes on thecommon channel.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising meansfor receiving from the uplink node a grant to transmit using the firstallocation of radio resources.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13 furthercomprising means for receiving from the uplink node a grant to transmitusing only a portion of the first allocation of radio resources.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 13 wherein each of the first and second allocationsof radio resources comprises a frequency assignment from the commonchannel.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each of the first andsecond allocations of radio resources comprises a spreading codeassignment from the common channel.
 19. A non-transitorycomputer-program product for wireless communications comprising: anon-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructionsexecutable by a processing system in a wireless node to: provide a relaybetween wireless uplink and downlink nodes; simultaneously communicatewith the uplink and downlink nodes via the relay using differentspreading codes on a common channel, wherein the communication with theuplink and downlink nodes comprises simultaneous transmission to theuplink and downlink nodes on the common channel; and send a request tothe uplink node specifying a first allocation of radio resources fromthe common channel to transmit and send a request to the downlink nodespecifying a second allocation of radio resources from the commonchannel to transmit, said second allocation of resources being differentfrom the first allocation of radio resources.
 20. An access point forwireless communications, comprising: a network adapter configured tosupport a wired backhaul connection to a network, a media accesscontroller configured to provide a relay between wireless uplink anddownlink nodes through the network adapter, and wherein the media accesscontroller is further configured to simultaneously communicate with theuplink and downlink nodes using different spreading codes on a commonchannel, wherein the media access controller is further configured tocommunicate with the uplink and downlink nodes by simultaneouslytransmitting to the uplink and downlink nodes on the common channel, andwherein the media access controller is further configured to send arequest to the uplink node specifying a first allocation of radioresources from the common channel to transmit and send a request to thedownlink node specifying a second allocation of radio resources from thecommon channel to transmit, the second allocation of resources beingdifferent from the first allocation of radio resources.
 21. A relaypoint for wireless communications, comprising: a wireless networkadapter; a media access controller configured to provide a relay betweenwireless uplink and downlink nodes through the wireless network adapter,and wherein the media access controller is further configured tosimultaneously communicate with the uplink and downlink nodes usingdifferent spreading codes on a common channel, wherein the media accesscontroller is further configured to communicate with the uplink anddownlink nodes by simultaneously transmitting to the uplink and downlinknodes on the common channel, and wherein the media access controller isfurther configured to send a request to the uplink node specifying afirst allocation of radio resources from the common channel to transmitand send a request to the downlink node specifying a second allocationof radio resources from the common channel to transmit, the secondallocation of resources being different from the first allocation ofradio resources.
 22. An access terminal for wireless communications,comprising: a wireless network adapter; a media access controllerconfigured to provide a relay between wireless uplink and downlink nodesthrough the wireless network adapter, and wherein the media accesscontroller is further configured to simultaneously communicate with theuplink and downlink nodes using different spreading codes on a commonchannel, wherein the media access controller is further configured tocommunicate with the uplink and downlink nodes by simultaneouslytransmitting to the uplink and downlink nodes on the common channel, andwherein the media access controller is further configured to send arequest to the uplink node specifying a first allocation of radioresources from the common channel to transmit and send a request to thedownlink node specifying a second allocation of radio resources from thecommon channel to transmit, the second allocation of resources beingdifferent from the first allocation of radio resources; and a userinterface configured to display an indication based on data from thewireless network adapter.